Ghost Writer
by Questionable Answers
Summary: Fortunately for a certain dark organization, the experimental poison APTX4869 has a 100% success rate. Unfortunately for them, even death can't stop a particular otaku from solving mysteries.
1. Chapter 1

_Damn it! Damn him! Stupid detective freak, getting involved where he shouldn't, breaking his promise, making me wait, making me worry! He has absolutely no right to just run out on me like that, no explanation or anything, just _"I'll catch up with you later."_ How could he just leave me alone like that, especially after what happened…_

Ran paused her pacing and tried desperately to think of something else. But it was no use. Damn her thoughts even, for not letting that stupid case go. And damn the thrice damned luck that had put the potential couple on the same jet coster as an ex-girlfriend turned murderer and a soon to be headless corpse. A shudder ran through her at the thought. She remembered all too clearly the complete black of the tunnel, a sickening crunching sound that she didn't so much hear as feel. The splash of warmth against her cheek, and worst of all, the coppery smell that was unmistakable.

It wasn't that she had never seen a crime scene before. She was best friends with the great high school detective Kudo Shinichi after all, and wherever he went, murder followed. Just by being close to him, she had accidently stumbled onto more dead bodies and twisted plots than she cared to remember. She had probably seen gorier scenes as well, but never before had she been so close. She had been sitting less than three feet away from a man whose life was violently stolen away from him. Ran found such proximity to death highly disturbing. But that wasn't the only thing about this particular case that disturbed her.

First, Shinichi's lack of reaction. She had only seen his startled and horrified expression for a second, maybe less before he locked down; Before he shut away his emotional mind in favor of observation, logic and reasoning. It was upsetting to Ran that Shinichi was able to do that at all, let alone so completely and with incredible speed. She supposed that's what kept him sane, separating himself from his cases, but she hated that he had to at all.

Second, the two men in black. She desperately and irrationally wanted them to go away, to go anywhere so long as it was far away from her and far away from Shinichi. Without having any idea why, she was very afraid of them, but she was also very angry. She wanted to run, to grab Shinichi's hand and get the hell out. She also wanted to turn and face them. To yell and scream and threaten all sorts of karate style pain if they didn't leave her and Shinichi alone, of they didn't take themselves straight to the police station and confess to whatever heinous crimes she was sure they had committed. The very air around them seemed contaminated with death, and ran was sure that Shinichi had noticed it too.

Then Shinichi just decided to run off, leaving her alone with her own thoughts of death and danger. He just forgot something, Ran told herself desperately, or he got caught up in a conversation with one of the officers. He'll be home in an hour or two. He probably just forgot all about me. He's just being and insensitive jerk. Why should I worry about that mystery freak? Ran started pacing again. Back and forth, glaring at the phone, mentally daring Shinichi to call so that she could give him a piece of her mind! How dare he leave me by myself only minutes after the police let us go! Especially with those scary men in black still around! Ran once again stopped pacing so abruptly, it seemed as if she had hit an invisible wall. All of her anger melted away in an instant, replaced by an overwhelming feeling of dread. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.

Suddenly Ran snatched up the phone and dialed a number so familiar her fingertips flew across the pad. She held her breath, waiting to hear Shinichi's voice tell her that she was just being silly, needing for him to be all right, while knowing somehow that he wouldn't, couldn't, answer. After an eternity, Shinichi's familiar voice gave a familiar notice, "Hello, this is Kudou Shinichi. I'm not home at the moment, please leave a message…"

"That's weird," Ran heard herself say, the feeling of dread and wrongness growing stronger, "he hasn't gone home yet?"

"He probably went out to eat with his famous novelist parents." Kogoros drunken statement only server to worry ran further. It reminded her that there was no one at Shinichi's home to notice if he didn't come back at all.

"What are you talking about? Shinichi's parents have been living in America for the past three years! He lives by himself!"

Caught up in her thoughts, Ran didn't hear her fathers mumbled reply. Something must have happened. Shinichi should definitely be home by now. Something must have happened after he left…"I'm going to Shinichi's house!" Rfan called as she grabbed her jacket and flew out the door, leaving her drunken father and his hasty demand for dinner behind.

* * *

"Hey come here! We've got a dead body!"

_What happened?_

"What!?"

_Where am I?_

"Get some light over here!"

_Who am I?_

"Call an ambulance and the police!"

_Is that …me?_

"…never mind the ambulance, this guy has been dead for a while."

_Am I …Dead?_

* * *

Officer Takagi Wataru was just about to leave when the phone rang. He stopped, a pile of folders under one arm and his hand hesitating over that doorknob. The office was almost completely empty, most of the investigators either out doing their jobs or resting at home after another long shift. Takagi was looking forward to joining the second group, right after he left the Tropical land case file with Megure, but something told him that this particular phone call was not to be missed.

Placing the files on the nearest corner of free space, Takagi walked quickly back to his desk to pick up the phone. "Hello, this is Takagi, homicide and violent crimes unit 3."

"Sorry to bother you so late Takagi-san, but you work with the Megure-keibu who was here earlier during the uh…incident with the jet coster, right?" the voice coming through the receiver sounded deep and calm, but their was an urgency to it that put the young officer on edge.

"That is correct. May I ask who's speaking?"

"I am Tanaka Hoshiro from Tropical Land security. I used to work with Megure-san on the police force many years back. There's been … an incident here not to long ago, and although the police have already been contacted, I thought Megure would want to know about this immediately, but I can't get through to his desk. Would you please relay a message?" politely and yet somewhat impatiently.

"I'm sorry sir, but if he isn't answering his phone than he probably doesn't want to be bothered. Why don't you try calling in the morning?"

"Trust me, he wants to know about this. Now."

* * *

Megure didn't want to be there anymore. It was late, he was tired, and his shift had technically ended hours ago. No doubt Kudo-kun was already at home, sleeping off the tension of today's case. But this was all part of a police detectives daily life. If only Takagi would hurry up with those damn files, he could finally put this day behind him.

The quiet knock at the door was barely distinguishable behind the rustle of paper and the scratch of the pen. Megure didn't even have to think about which of his officers could interrupting his well deserved bout of self pity. Takagi was a skilled officer and a good man, but he was FAR too timid for his own good. "Ahem…yes?"

"Megure keibu…" Takagi barley ventured past the door.

"Oh! Takagi kun, have you got those files from tropical land?"

"Ah, well yes sir, but there's something important you need to know sir. A mister Tanaka is on the phone for you. There's been an incident back at Tropical Land that he thinks you should know about right away."

Tanaka Hoshiro? I haven't heard from him in a while. He's not the type of man to bother me with trivialities. Meaning that watever he wants to say is important. I suppose it can't wait untill I get a few hours of sleep, hm?

"It's about Kudo Shinichi sir. You really want to hear this."

* * *

AN: I'm not completely pleased with how this turned out, but i've been sitting on it for a long time and I cant seem to fix it, so I decided to post it anyway. Please let me know what you think, if I should continue and how I could make it better.


	2. Chapter 2

_Well this sucks_, he thought, thoroughly annoyed. _I don't like this. It's not logical, not possible. It definitely shouldn't make sense, but it does. How else could the floating and the transparency be explained? Unless I'm hallucinating._ He floated thoughtfully above his body while police and security guards alike scurried across the designated crime scene like ants at a picnic. _But no, I know enough about hallucination to know that this is not one. So when you've eliminated the impossible, whatever remains however improbable, and means I'm a ghost. But whose ghost? Why can't I remember my name? Well whatever. I'll let the police try to come up with something. It's not like I could tell them even if I did know. They can't see or hear me._

He had to admit the police were doing a pretty good job of things. The first responders who answered the call had set up a reasonably wide perimeter. Not to big to be cumbersome, but not to small to miss important evidence. Tanaka Hoshiro, the guy in charge of the security personnel who had stumbled across his not so final resting place, obviously knew what he was doing. Probably, he had some good experience as a police officer. Even the officers that arrived on scene shortly after the discovery of the body succumbed to the mans unconscious authority and charisma.

"So what have we got?" he asked, never questioning his own right to know.

"_Male, 16-17, probably in the second year of high school." _He said automatically, even knowing that the police would not hear him._" The only visible wound is blunt force trauma to the back of the head, but that's clearly non fatal. The weapon was the metal pipe lying not three meters away. You should check that for prints, though I doubt that if the criminal felt safe to leave it here there's anything there to find over all physical condition is good. I must have been a fairly active person, maybe on a school team. The troubling points are what was I doing in an out of the way corner like this, and how did I die? There's no visible cause of death, but I look like I am, er, _was_ physically healthy. It probably isn't due to natural causes. Some kind of poison, maybe?"_

Just as the ghost was finishing his unheard explanation, the junior officer to whom the question was actually directed began to speak, having decided that the older mans authority was real and should be respected with an honest and complete answer, even if he wasn't police. It was against protocol, but somehow felt right to the young man.

"The victim is male, 17 years old, was in his second year at Teitan High School. The only visible wound is a blunt force trauma to the back of the head, probable weapon is the metal pipe found not far from the body which looks to have blood on it. It's being sent to the lab for fingerprinting. Cause of death is unknown."

"_That's all you got? C'mon, I need a name here!"_

"Do we have a name for him? I assume that since you know what school he attended he had some sort of ID on him, right?"

The officer hesitated, "Well, sir, I don't think I should be divulging that information to anyone outside the police force until he can be properly identified."

_"What?! Jeez, give a guy a break. It's not easy thinking of yourself as John Doe. What harm could dropping one little name do?"_

"I would like to offer this investigation my full cooperation. I hope that my considerable experience as a former officer and my particular knowledge of tropical land as the head of security. Let me assure you that any information released to me would remain secure and could help me to help you." Tanaka reasoned, using all of his considerable persuasive skill.

"Ah, well then. Like you suggested, sir, according to the victim's school ID, his name is Kudo Shinichi, but that has yet to be confirmed."

_Kudo Shinichi, huh? I like it._

"Wait. You mean the Great High School Detective, savior of the Japanese police force Kudo Shinichi, is dead. Probably murdered. Here. In Tropical Land." Tanaka stated.

_That explains why I seem to know so much about crime scenes. Mei-tantei Kudo Shinichi. I definitely like the sound of that. But where the hell is Tropical Land?_

"Yes sir, we believe so."

"Well shit," the older man said softly before turning to leave.

"Sir? Where are you going? You should stay close by in case we have any more questions."

_"In case you have anymore questions? You're the one giving out info like candy on Halloween!"_

"I need to make a phone call. I'll be right back. Trust me, I wouldn't miss this one, it's going to be big." His voice fading as he walked from the scene.

_"Wait! Who are you calling? I need to know more"_ the ghost, now Kudo Shinichi, floated after the man, trying to stay within hearing distance. Then stopped as suddenly as if he'd hit a brick wall. Which, by the way, he could now walk through, and yes, he had tried it soon after being a ghost had occurred to him. Being able to freely pass through solid objects was some hard evidence clearly in favor of the dead theory. Shinichi looked back at his body, still lying facedown in the grass. Another attempt to move forward resulted in failure. Having his attempts at eavesdropping thwarted by the invisible wall, Shinichi floated back to the crime scene.

He resumed hovering, deep in thought. _Great, something else that doesn't make sense. Why couldn't I follow him? As a ghost, shouldn't I be able to go wherever I want. Then again I don't know much about ghosts. I'm a detective, what would a detective need to know about ghosts for. Obviously I didn't believe they existed. I should have listened to Ran better when she was complaining about ghosts and monsters and stuff...Ran! What happened to Ran!!_

Shinichi rifled through his newfound memories, but unfortunately, there weren't many of them. Nothing but a few snapshots of his former life. And all of them appeared to be fairly recent. A school building, a big western style house, the line up for the jet coaster, a man in with a dark coat and an even darker gaze. Ran crying.

_We were at an amusement park. Tropical Land. And… I left. Why did I leave? Following someone? But who? Why?_

_Did Ran get home safe?_

He had to find out. He flew head first in the direction that seemed most familiar, and nearly knocked him out when he hit the invisible wall at top speed. The knock to the head confused him, both intellectually and in the more traditional "knock to the head" kind of way. He was a ghost, so how could anything affect him physically? And yet his metaphysical ears were definitely ringing. He tried another direction, slower this time, and once again smacked strait into nothing. Straight up was the same, as was every other direction he tried. Always exactly the same distance from where he hade died.

He suddenly remembered wondering why ghosts in stories always seemed to haunt only one specific area. Now he knew. It was cause they couldn't get out.

No one could see him, hear him or feel him, he couldn't affect the physical world and now he would be trapped forever at the scene of his own murder, which he didn't remember happening. Almost worse, there next to no evidence. No fingerprints or bullet casings, the only shoeprint was too vague to be anything but inconclusive, and the only witness was dead. The detective's murder would go unsolved, and there wasn't anything he could do about it.

_This really sucks._

_

* * *

_

AN_:_ Thank you to those people who took the time to review, and especialy thanks to those who corrected some of my mistakes. You should be pleased to know that I actualy had people proofread this chapter _before_ I posted it. Still, if you catch anything that I missed, please tell me. I really apreciate knowing that people actualy care.

Thoughts are in italics

Ghost Shinichi's speach is also italicized, on acount of he's a ghost and no one can hear him.


	3. Chapter 3

Megure dropped the phone into the cradle heavily. Moments passed that felt like eternity, the clock ticking in slow motion, his thoughts on pause. It was Megure's lungs craving air that reminded the man that the world was still moving and that breathing was still necessary. With the intake of breath, he exploded into action.

This was no time to be sitting around. He had people to organize, crime scenes to process, witnesses to question. He had to stay calm, clearheaded. He couldn't allow himself to be anything less than his best right now. He rose from his chair full of purpose, his face a mask of determination.

Three quick strides brought him to his office door. He swung the door out, ready to call his team into action. His momentum was wasted when the door didn't open quite all the way, and unfortunately for his nose, a big man moving with purpose is hard to stop. The sharp pain in his face was accompanied by a startled yelp not his own. Megure pushed, and this time the door complied with his wishes, opening to reveal detective Takagi picking himself of the floor and attempting to salute at the same time. It didn't look like it was working out too well for him.

Megure was the first to recover from the unfortunate incident with the door. "Takagi kun, am I correct in assuming you know what has occurred?"

"Sir! That's correct. I don't have any of the details though. Tanaka-san insisted on speaking with you directly."

"So you are fully aware of the implications this means both for me personally and for the entire Japanese police force? Can I trust you to treat this case with utmost care professionalism?"

"You can sir. I didn't know Kudo Shinichi well, but his reputation as a detective and as young man precedes him. I would be honored to be involved in this investigation."

Megure ignored the little twinge in his heart when Takagi said his name. Now was not the time to grieve, questions had to be answered, "good," he said to Takagi "despite your inexperience, I'm sure you'll do this unit, and me, proud. You show promise."

"Thank you sir!" Takagi nearly beamed, but beaming might be inappropriate just now.

"How soon can you find out who's in charge of the investigation?" Megure

"Already did sir. I figured that you'd want to handle this personally. Officer Asama Yasuji was first on scene, he reports to inspector Kaetsu."

"Then it won't be a problem. He owes me a favor. Call Satou-kun and Shiratori-kun, tell them to meet us at tropical land as soon as they can. We'll take my car"

"Y'sir!"

* * *

It was more difficult than he had thought it would be. He could handle bad news over the telephone but seeing his body facedown in the dirt was almost too much for the seasoned officer. The arrogance was gone, as was the genius. What was left was no longer Kudo Shinichi. Megure began to feel his carefully crafted mask of calm and purpose slide away, allowing the deeper emotions to show on his face. Anger, grief, guilt, fear, hate. It only took a second for the inspector to shove his mask back into place. Nobody on scene had been close enough nor observant enough to note the evidence of the darker emotions swirling just bellow the calm and composed surface. No _body_ saw but _someone_ did, and someone craved answers.

Kudo Shinichi was downright startled by the sheer power in the big mans gaze. The hurt and the anger he saw there weren't normal for police officers. He remembered that much at least. Young officers might feel sad, scared, repulsed, but they quickly learned to compartmentalize. Life was life; work was not. It was that simple. He even had some recollection of developing that view for himself. He was usually very good at handling death, very composed and official. And when he slipped up, allowing things to become too personal, he had Ran to simply be there for him.

The man in front of him was clearly no rookie cop. His whole demeanor suggested he was used to a level of power and control afforded to superiors. Most likely he was ranked an inspector or higher. Besides which, the way that he composed his features into a calm and confident expression so quickly after such strong emotion was nothing short of impressive. Shinichi's very capable brain quickly came to the conclusion that this man took his death very personally. This suggested that the man had known him with some degree of intimacy while he was alive. Shinichi knew that he had been a well-known detective who worked with and even directed police investigations fairly frequently. He must have worked with this man a lot. Perhaps the inspector had been a mentor of sorts. That would fit nicely into the picture Shinichi was building of his life, piece by piece.

_"Who are you? I must know you because you obviously know me."_ Shinichi was getting used to voicing his thoughts and opinions aloud, and was also very tired of going unheard.

The man walked straight past where Shinichi was standing a few inches above the ground. Walked straight to the shaded are marked of with caution tape. Straight up to where his body lay. Shinichi followed him, having nothing better to do and being curious to the point of obsession of just what occurred there.

The man stopped a couple of meters from the body, seeming almost unable to get any closer. But it clos enough to see his face. "the victem is confirmed to be kudo shinichi" the man said in a voice that sounde much older that it should have. when will we know time and cause of death?"

"Forensics will be finished any time now, but we'll have to wait until after an autopsy can be performed to know time and cause of death. The body was discovered at 9:05 this evening by the security guards. They do their round every three hours, the last one being at 6:00. There is no evidence of the body being moved, that give us a tree hour window. The only visible trauma is a single strike to the back of the head. The weapon can be identified as a metal pipe we found not far from the body with traces of blood on it. So far there are no suspects and no witnesses."

Shinichi had already known all of this, so it wasn't the details he was interested him. It was the man's reaction to the details. Although the calmness did not slip from his face again, Shinichi found that he was able to sense just a little of what he was feeling. Maybe because he had known the man in life, or maybe because the man's emotions were so much stronger than anyone else present. When the young officer mentioned the estimated time of death, the man had been surprised, then a little guilty, and then suddenly fearful, as if something terrible had just occurred to him.

The man let the officer finish before he stated simply, " You'll have to change the window of opportunity a little. I last saw Kudo-kun and Ran-kun just before 7:00. You'll also have to excuse me for a second. I have to make a call."

Shinichi blinked in surprise. It seemed that the man had not only known him, he was on a first name basis with Ran. And he had seen them both soon before the murder occurred. Fresh fear welled up in him. _Ran. What happened? Where are you?_

Shinichi followed as the man walked from the crime scene. Fortunately this time the man stopped before passing the invisible wall that kept the boy trapped. He was able to get close enough to hear both sides of the conversation.

"Detective Mouri Kogoro speaking. Hic."

Shinichi groaned. The old man was drunk again, it would take forever to get information out of him, and he needed to know NOW if Ran was safe.

Mouri-kun. It's Megure sorry to bother you so late. Do you kno..."

"Keibu-dono. Good to hear from you. How've you been? We should play a game of majong next time you're around."

"Mouri-kun. This is important. Do you know where Ran-kun is?"

"Ran? Why do you want to know where she is? Isn't majong much more interesting?"

"This is serious Mouri-kun. Where is she?" the inspector's patience was beginning to fray. He didn't have time for this.

Finally the inspector's tone seemed to get through to the drunken detective. "She came home at around seven. She left again around two hours latter. Is everything okay? If that stupid detective brat got my little girl in trouble I'll kill him."

The irony of that statement was not lost on Shinichi. He laughed out loud, or would have if anyone could hear him. Relief filled him when he found out Ran had gotten home all right, but he still didn't know where she was. He had to see her himself, but he couldn't leave this place even if he knew where to go.

"Mouri-kun," Megure said sadly, "Kudo-kun is dead."

There was a long pause. Shinichi could almost imagine the stunned look on that stupid old mans face.

"How?" was all he said.

"We suspect murder." Megure heard the sharp intake of breath from across the line. "We don't know the details yet, but I believe that Ran-kun was the last person to see him alive. She might know something."

"I she in danger?" the concern in his voice nearly matched Shinichi's own.

"I believe she's perfectly fine. I just want to find her and make sure. And maybe she can help the investigation."

Another pause.

"Check the brats house first. She was really worried that he didn't get home. She has a key."

Shinichi was getting used to being surprised. He didn't know the old man knew that. Shinichi had been sure that if he had known, he would have objected. Perhaps he hadn't been giving the old man enough credit.

"Thank you, Mouri-kun. I'll let you know as soon as we find anything."

"Inspector?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you." Kogoro hung up the phone.

From nowhere, a car exploded into the scene. A young woman, calm and in control behind the wheel, a tight jawed, white knuckled man the passenger. Everyone stopped to stare as the woman got gracefully from her seat, and as the passenger pealed himself from the car.

"Oh, Satou-kun, perfect timing. Take Takagi-kun and go check out the Kudo house. You're looking for a girl named Mouri Ran. She was the victims close friend and possibly the last to see him alive. You know where it is?"

"I do sir, but wouldn't it be better if you went to talk to her? She knows you after all." the man Shinichi deduced was Takagi asked in a quiet voice. Not the voice of an experienced detective, but Shinichi agreed with him anyway. He was recovering some memory of the inspector and trusted him to tell Ran of his death. He knew she would take it hard. A familiar face might make it a little easier. He wished he could be there. He wished he had told her how he felt. Now she would never know.

"No, Takagi-kun. The only time we saw each other, Kudo-kun was there as well, and usually someone was dead. If I tell her, she'll just remember all the murder cases he was involved in. Better someone with no connection break the news than someone with a negative connection."

"I hadn't thought of it that way, sir." Takagi said, respect for his superior growing even more.

"_Neither had I_" Shinichi said sadly to himself. "_I should have_."

"Besides which, I have another phone call to make that I cant put off anymore. Call me when you know something."

Recognizing the dismissal for what it was, officers Takagi and Satou left in Satou's car. Just as abruptly as she had first arrived.

Inspector Megure looked at his phone and sighed. He really couldn't put it off anymore. Under normal circumstances he hated this part of the job. Now that it was personal, he dreaded it.

Curious, Shinichi once again brought himself close enough to hear the phone conversation. It rang and rang and rang. If he wasn't already dead, the suspense might have killed him. When someone finally answered the ringing, the shock of recognition hit him almost like a physical blow.

"Hello?" said a distracted feminine voice, in English.

"Yukiko-kun. This is Megure. Is your husband home?"

* * *

AN: Thank you to everyone who reviewed and to everyone whose been waiting patiently.


	4. Chapter 4

It was a war zone. There was no other way to describe the mass devastation resulting from Kudo Yukiko's attempt at baking cookies. A film of flour clung stubbornly to every visible surface, batter dripped from the countertop to puddle on the floor. Spatter covered the walls and even a part of the ceiling. The charred remains of the previous batch lay abandoned in the wastebasket, and gooey dishes piled in the sink. The only thing not completely ruined was Yukiko herself.

She was by no means untouched by the mess of her own making; she was covered in the same floury gooey residue that coated the rest of her kitchen. There was a splotch of batter on her cheek, and more of the stuff matted through her hair. Unlike her kitchen, however, Yukiko maintained a sense of beauty and dignity. The mess did nothing to suppress her natural flair for life that radiated from somewhere just under her skin. The way she carried herself suggested that she had covered herself with goop on purpose, like she was following, or rather setting, the latest trend in fashion. If anyone had seen her at that moment, spoon in her hand and determination on her face, they would have immediately gone home and taken up baking themselves.

"I hope you don't expect me to clean all this up." Remarked a slightly bored sounding voice from the adjoining living room.

"Of course I do Yusaku! I pour my heart and soul into making you a perfect batch of chocolate chip cookies, slaving away for hours, all out of the goodness of my heart, and all you care a bout is a little mess? The least you could do to show your appreciation for all of my hard work is to take care of the clean up. Its only fair." Yukiko responded to her husband query with what she believed to be infinite wisdom and patience.

"Yukiko darling, I merely remarked that the neighbors made good cookies. I in no way meant to imply that you should learn how to bake, nor that you were somehow less than perfect for lack of culinary discipline. I was only being polite." Yusaku, who actually did posses nearly infinite patience (developed over years of marriage) reasoned calmly.

Yukiko sniffed, "I don't really see how that matters. The kitchen will have to be cleaned one way or another, and I can't see that happening all on its own. Therefore, you'll be cleaning it."

"Fine. You got me. But it'll just have to wait until I finish the next chapter for the magazine. I'm already behind on my deadlines."

Yukiko had opened her mouth to retort when the phone rang. She instantly went from a peeved wife to a gracious host. "Hello?" she said in a perfect polite-but-not-to-interested tone.

She had automatically switched to English when she answered, and was mildly surprised when the reply came in Japanese. "Yukiko-kun. This is Megure. Is your husband home?"

Yukiko looked at her husband busily typing away. She got his attention and asked without words if he wanted to answer the phone. He looked at her quizzically, to which she responded by mouthing 'me-gu-re'. He shook his head, returning to his work with single minded focus. He wouldn't want his wife to have a messy kitchen for to long.

Yukiko replied airily, "I'm afraid you're just going to have to deal with me today inspector. Yusaku just stepped out for a moment."

"I'm afraid it's bad news." The inspector's tone seemed just a little off to Yukiko. She knew the inspector was a master at hiding his emotions; the difference was enough to sound the first warning bells in her head. She decided to play it light. How bad could it be?

"Has that boy of mine gone and gotten himself into trouble again? I can't see why else you'd be calling at this hour," she looked out of the window. It was still early morning in L.A, meaning that it was sometime around midnight in Japan.

"Yukiko-kun. The best way I know how to do this is bluntly." She felt her heart drop. "Shinichi-kun is dead. I'm sorry."

"…"

Yusaku looked up from his typing. Something was wrong. He heard from the tone of Yukiko's voice just a bit earlier that something upset her, and seeing her now, perfectly still, phone clenched in an iron grip still held to her ear, it was like the life had gone out of her. Slowly she turned towards him, eyes full of tears that she wouldn't let go of. She held the phone out to him and said in a voice so soft he felt it more than he heard it, "he's gone."

Within seconds Yusaku was out of his chair, embracing the woman he loved. He knew instantly what she was talking about, they said more to each other in that moment than the whole rest of the morning, all without saying a word. He picked the phone out of Yukiko's now slack grasp.

"Talk to me." His voice was professional. It demanded facts and details; it wouldn't stand for any nonsense.

Yukiko ignored the rest of the conversation. She couldn't know the details. Not right now. Not when she hadn't completely accepted the truth. Intellectually she knew it was the truth. Her son had lived his life unafraid of the darker side of human nature. In fact he chased after it, sought it out, made it show its true form on a public stage. It was no surprise that hunter had become the prey. She knew it hadn't been an accident. The inspector wouldn't have phrased it the way he had unless it was murder.

Then it hit her, not just in her mind but in her heart and her gut. He son had been murdered. Dead. Killed. Extinguished. Her Shin-chan. Her boy was gone. She slid down her husband side, coming to rest a puddle on the floor, right next to the puddle of failed cookies. The tears just behind her eyes refused to be held back any longer. Silently, she wept.

She had no idea how long she sat there, if it was only a few minutes it might as well have been a few hours. She just knew that her husbands voice, full of grief as she imagined hers would be if she had been able to speak, lifting her out of the misery just enough to be understood.

"Yukiko," it said quietly, " go pack a bag, just the essentials. The flight is already booked. We have to be at the airport in twenty minutes."

* * *

AN: this chapter's pretty short, but I think it works because it has a clearly defined beginning and end. I could have mashed it together with another plot point, but I like this way better. Also, I assumed Yukiko and Yusaku were in LA partially because the time difference fit nicely. For the same reason, the Kudos just became morning people. The next chapter will be significantly longer. Probably.


	5. Chapter 5

Something was wrong. It was too quiet. An ache in her back and neck informed her that she had spent several hours in one position, without her familiar mattress and pillow, funny because she didn't remember falling asleep. Her father's snoring was distinctly absent, which was not all that strange in and of itself, considering the frequency of her fathers all night gambling binges. What disturbed her about the quiet was the lack of the ever present, underlying hum of the street below their shared apartment. It was too dark. There wasn't enough ambient light to indicate that it was morning, and she couldn't make out the dim yellow light that usually filtered through her window.

Still in the calm and clarity reached only in the wake of dreams, she came to the inevitable conclusion. She was not in her bed. She was not even in her room, or her apartment. She felt a dull surprise, not at the simple fact she had stumbled upon, but at her own lack of apprehension. She did not know where she was, or what had brought her here, and yet she felt absolutely and completely safe. The only place that she could think of where she couldn't hear the hum of the city, where she could let herself sleep without any worry was Shinichi's hou…

_Shinichi!!_

Ran sat up, coming fully awake in an instant. She winced slightly, now remembering from previous encounters that Shinichi's couch might have been plenty comfy to sit on, but was entirely unsuitable for sleeping. She had stayed at Shinichi's place for many reasons over the years. It was close to the school and they had a group project to work on early in the morning. Her mother had left and her father was drunk again. They decided to stay up and watch movies all night. His parents took off for America, leaving him stubbornly alone. Whenever she was over for whatever reason, Ran was unfailingly offered the guest room, and she readily took it after the first few nights of foolishly insisting on taking the couch.

A smile briefly flashed on her lips. _But Shinichi isn't here._ As the last of sleep was banished from her mind, so was the last of her confusion, and yet the feeling that something was wrong remained, stronger than before. Ran remembered with embarrassment her nearly frantic sprint to his house, as if getting there any sooner would make him appear. She had nearly broken his door down before she remembered that she had a key. A key which she noticed, unclenching a fist she wasn't aware she had made, she still held. Her gaze was drawn to the negative imprint the key had left in her hand as it slowly disappeared, merely a ghost of the original.

Tears came to her eyes unbidden, as if a part of her knew something terrible, and was just waiting for the rest of her to catch up. Ran forced a laugh a she wiped away her tears. _No use thinking like that,_ she told herself, remembering what the important people in her life thought of intangibles like hunches conjecture and, god forbid, _guessing_. Shinichi, her mother, her father. They all believed in what they could see and touch, in things like laws and facts and logic. Shinichi especially had turned up his nose at intangibles, poking fun at Ran's belief in, and fear of, the preternatural. He especially liked to tease her about all the ghost stories she believed in (Shinichi had said 'fell for'). The one time Ran had pointed out that justice was as vague as her 'feelings' he had responded by saying that he didn't so much believe in justice as he did truth. He had said that justice had too many forms and interpretations to be considered concrete, but there is always only one truth.

_Shinichi, where are you?_

Suddenly, the quiet fled. As if to answer her internal question, Ran heard footsteps coming from outside. Her heart leapt, both in hope and in dread. Most of her hoped and expected to find Shinichi, satisfied and perhaps a little tired, coming home from an unexpected case. The other part of her, the part of her that knew something she didn't, that felt the wrongness most and cried over shadows was wondering who would be coming to the door in the middle of the night and why. That part of her knew for certain it was not, and would never be, Shinichi. Ran dreaded knowing why that part was so completely sure.

Ran's better nature, her hope, won out, and she quickly walked to the front door. She would have run, but despite her familiarity with the Kudo house, it was still dark enough to trip over her own feet. She could just imagine Shinichi's laughter when he walked in to see her sprawled on his floor. Ran decided to take extra care; bad enough to be caught at his house, worried out of her mind, in the middle of the night.

As Ran opened the door, ready to smile charmingly and coolly demand to know why she had been left behind. If she did not receive a satisfactory answer…well let's just say she wouldn't be held responsible for her actions. The smile died before it could reach her lips, instead replaced by a look of surprise. A look that was no doubt the mirror of the vaguely familiar man in front of her, his fist raised to knock on the door that was no longer in front of him. Worry turned into fear turned into dread, which settled in the pit of her stomach. The part of her that knew Shinichi wasn't coming home grew bigger.

Takagi blinked dumbly. During the ride over he had been rehearsing the entire encounter with Mouri Ran in his head. He was probably the only officer on the force that could actually _think_ while Detective Satou was driving, but that's beside the point. He really hated telling the family and friends of a victim that they would never see that person again. Of course, everyone hated that part of the job, and everyone had to do it at some point. Takagi knew he shouldn't complain, but he _really_ didn't like this part.

What he had expected was to knock on the door, and to stand waiting outside for at least a minute. Mouri-chan, when she opened the door, was to be tired and confused. He was to be calm and reassuring to a young girl, and explain to her that her best friend was dead in a very sympathetic yet professional way. All of these expectations, starting with the very simple act of knocking on the door, went down the tubes.

He blinked again. His brain had been so fixated, so focused on helping a girl get through some difficult news, that it had simply thrown up its metaphorical hands. Takagi simply couldn't process the surprised, but very awake, suspicious and almost scary looking teen in front of him. Not at all what he expected.

Takagi blinked a third time, "I, uh…Miss…? Uh…Hi."

Ran blinked, and narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Her brain had also not appreciated getting knocked on its ass, this was not at all what she had expected either, and she did not know how to proceed. Other than squashing unexplained and premature grief down into the tiniest, ignorable chunk she could.

Ran and Takagi might have gone on blinking at each other for who knows how long if it wasn't for one thing. "Excuse me," Satou Miwako stepped out from behind her much larger partner, speaking clearly and directly to Ran, "you must be Mouri Ran-san. Sorry to disturb you so late. I am Detective Satou and this is my partner Detective Takagi. If you don't mind, we would like to talk to you for a few minutes."

The suspicion faded from Ran's face to be replaced with a grudging recognition. "Of course. You two work under Inspector Megure, right?" Satou's polite tone automatically snapped Ran into the same polite frame of mind. "Please come in. I'm afraid Shinichi isn't home right now, but I don't think he'd mind."

Satou bowed in thanks, internally cringing at Ran's relaxed use of Kudo Shinichi's name. No honorifics, _they must have been really close._ She followed the girl into the dark house, sharply elbowing her partner in the ribs as she passed.

Takagi couldn't help it; his smaller counterpart was a lot stronger than she looked. "Ungh."

"Hmm?" Ran looked back, in the process of turning on various lights and straitening out the guest slippers, "Did you say something?"

"No Miss, I just uh, stubbed my toe." Takagi replied lamely. He didn't miss Satou's sharp glare, or Ran's incredulous look. He really was fudging this one up. He followed the teen, no, young woman and his partner in crime solving into the now brightened but strangely empty home.

* * *

Ran took a deep breath. The presence of the two detectives genuinely startled and worried her. After all, why would the police be looking for her at Shinichi's house? Police looking for Shinichi was normal, she had come to expect and accept officers and detectives interrupting her time with her friend. Heck, even police looking for her father wasn't _completely _unheard of. He was, after all, a private investigator and did, on occasion, stumble across something interesting to the police. For what possible reason would they want to talk to her badly enough to track her down?

_Maybe Shinichi is… _the growing part of her mind whispered poisonously.

_NO!_ The larger and much more stubborn piece immediately squashed the stray thought. It would not allow that notion to be considered. There was absolutely no way on this earth that there was even a remote possibility that Shinichi was…_NO!NO!NO!NO!NO!_

She shook her hear sharply, the table, the sink, cupboards, all blurred into one mixed up blob. Her chair squeaked as she shifted her weight, glancing from one unexpected guest to the other. There was an uncomfortable silence that bordered on awkward hanging over them.

Perhaps the living room, or the library, would have been more comfortable. Ran has always been partial to kitchens. They made her feel…necessary. Her father, her mother, Shinichi. Another thing they all had in common was their lack of basic proficiency handling food.

"Mouri-san…"

"Can I…"

Ran and the female officer started at once. They both fell back into silence.

Takagi cleared his throat, having regained his composure. "What were you saying Mouri-san?"

"Oh, would either of you like something to drink? I could make tea, or coffee if you prefer. I know for a fact that Shinichi keeps a ready supply of both."

"Just water, if you would," replied the female officer. _Satou-san_ Ran reminded herself. _She introduced herself as Satou._

Ran looked at the other officer, _Takagi-san, _expectantly.

"Water is fine, thank you Mouri-san." He said.

"Call me Ran. It'll get confusing if you ever speak with my father." She stated to both detectives as she got three glasses and a pitcher of water.

"Ran-san then." Takagi smiled.

Satou decided to take advantage of the situation, before the ice had a chance to freeze over again. This was already too difficult. "Ran-san. I'm very sorry to say this, but we are here with some bad news."

_No._

"Earlier this evening a body was discovered at Tropical Land" The officer continued, not noticing, or perhaps ignoring the change in Ran's expression.

_NO._

"…behind the Farris Wheel near the public washroom."

_NO!_

"Inspector Megure was called"

_Please…_

"…and was able to identify the victem."

_NO!!!_

"I'm very sorry for you're loss,"

_You're lying! Please be lying…_

"Kudo shinichi is dead."

_You're wrong. I know you're wrong. Shinichi can't be gone. _Isn't_ gone. You're wrong. _

…_right?_

_

* * *

_

_AN: N_ext chapter I should be getting back to Shinichi's pov. He's been brooding.


	6. Chapter 6

They were wrong. Shinichi wasn't gone. He wasn't. And yet somehow, she knew that he was. That he would never come home again, or be late for school, or disappear from a crime scene only to reappear holding some piece of crucial evidence. Inspector Megure had identified shin… the body himself. There was no way he could have made a mistake.

Shinichi was dead. There was no turning away from the truth. He had left her outside the bathroom at the theme park, the bathroom behind which Satou-san had said they discovered his body. Behind which he had died. Ran had thought that Shinichi had left her, gone off to follow some lead or other without even the courtesy to tell her. In a way, that was true, but it was also true that Ran had left Shinichi as well.

She remembered the feeling she had as she watched him disappear. She was scared, and sad, and angry. She knew he would never come back, but she ignored that feeling, focusing instead on the anger. Anger was more comfortable. She had left in a huff, storming all the way home, leaving him to die.

Guilt and sorrow welled up uncomfortably behind her eyes, but refused to be turned into tears. Her own convictions conflicted sharply with each other. She knew Shinichi was dead even before being told, but she could not believe she would never see him again, that he was gone. Ran pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes, bits of color and light playing behind her eyelids. She stayed that way for a while, not moving, not thinking.

When she blinked her eyes open again she noticed neither of the officers were there anymore. Ran hadn't noticed when had left, though she vaguely remembered a fake sounding excuse (something about that thing at that place) and a promise to return after she had some time to think.

Thinking was the last thing Ran wanted to do right now, although she was grateful for the privacy. Right now she wanted to cry, to grieve the death of her best friend, but she couldn't because she didn't truly believe he was gone.

_What should I do?_

* * *

Shinichi was bored. It had been hours since he had died, and eavesdropping on random conversations was stimulating only to a point. Inspector Megure and the head of security, Tanaka Hoshiro, were currently outside his range of movement. Shinichi couldn't blame them for not wanting to be too close to the scene, but it was defiantly an annoyance. His best shot at gaining new information came from those two. The rest of the people present were just doing menial, though necessary, tasks.

Frowning, Shinichi busied himself with expanding his mental recall. He wasn't sure if it was the blow to the head, or the whole being dead thing that caused the memory loss, but he was determined to reverse it, especially after that disturbing phone call to his parents. So far, most of his memories centered around Ran, but after hearing his mothers familiar voice, he had began to recall some of his childhood memories, from when his parents were still around.

He found that he could pick a memory to use as a stepping stone to more memories. He remember Ran yelling at him for calling her Watson, which led him to a similar, if quieter, argument with Professor Agasa, from which he recalled a treasure hunt that was entertaining but perhaps a little too easy.

As Shinichi's memories of good times were restored, so were the less than happy moments of his life. Ran crying after her parents split up. The first time he saw an actual murder scene, and realized that being a detective wasn't just about puzzles and games and fan letters, that it was serious. His parents fighting, and worse, his parents making up.

Shinichi's frown deepened. Despite his progress and his (much) greater memory stores, he felt that he had accomplished little. He could not piece together the few fragments of memory he had from yesterday, the day he died. He remembered taking Ran to Tropical Land, and being forced to pay for both of them. He remembered a roller costar, a pearl necklace, Ran in tears and a man with eyes colder than ice. He had very little to go on, and was no closer to solving the mystery in front of him. It was quite frustrating.

Shinichi snorted, _"Its not like it matters. Even if I did know who killed me, I could't really _do_ anything about it."_ He flipped over in the air to lie on his stomach, elbows resting on thin air in front of him and chin on his fists. He was at just the right height to look one of the officers square in the face. The woman wore her hair in a high pony, pulled through her cap. She looked young, though not young enough to be new. She looked straight through the brooding teen. This did not improve his mood. He did not like being ignored, intentionally or not.

Annoyed, he waved his hand in front of her face. She continued to leaf through the bushes, completely oblivious. _"Hey!"_ Shinichi was waving both hands now. No response. He looked at his semi-transparent hand, then at the girl's unresponsive face. Then he reached back, and put his hand straight through her head. She blinked and shivered ever so slightly, as if she had suddenly felt a draft. Shinichi smiled triumphantly. _Finally, some attention._ Not that Shinichi would ever say it out loud; no he had far too much pride to admit to his childish need to be in the spotlight. Besides, his mother would be far to pleased if she knew just how much her son took after her.

Just as Shinichi was about to try something else, maybe whispering in her ear, the officers attention focused on something else entirely. A white van had just pulled up to the scene. It looked sort of like an ambulance, but lacked the normal attention grabbing lights and brightly painted graphics. Shinichi's still returning memory provided an explanation; he had seen that same vehicle many times before. It was the coroners van.

Surprise hit him like a bucket of cold water. Really he should have been expecting this. It's not like they could just leave a dead body in an amusement park. They had gathered all the information they could have without disturbing the body, but there was certain puzzles, cause of death being one of them, that could only be solved by an autopsy. Shinichi made a face; the thought of his body, the same body that he used to see in the mirror, on top of a medical examination table was highly disturbing.

It hit him, just then, that this was all too real. It wasn't a dream, or some kind of cosmic prank, or anything that he could just brush away and ignore. He was dead. He would never graduate high school or become a police detective, never chase down another criminal or solve another case. He could never tell Ran that he loved her.

Shinichi hadn't cried in years, not since he decided that real detectives didn't cry, and now that he so badly wanted to, he couldn't. The form he had now was simply a memory, something familiar to keep him solid. He was himself only because that was the only shape he knew how to have. Given time, ghosts forget who they were. They become shapeless and purposeless, nothing but a cold spot or a haze in a photograph. In Shinichi's memory, he never cried, and now he couldn't. But Shinichi didn't know all of this; he just knew that he was desperately unhappy and was not allowed to express it.

Shinichi could have stayed like that for a while, not doing anything, not truly thinking, if something hadn't snapped him back to reality. He felt a tug, centered at about the same place where his heart would have been, but that he felt through the whole of his being. Startled and a little scared, he looked around franticly to see what could have caused it.

_There. _The inspector, the head of security, and several other officers had all gathered around his body. Shinichi floated high enough to see above all the heads just in time to see a black bag being closed over his face. Two men dressed mostly in white then lifted the bag, and the empty shell of Kudo Shinichi with it. Shinichi's vision blurred as he felt the pull again, this time stronger. It cleared just for a moment, then blurred again as the men in white started to walk toward the van. The farther they moved, the worse it got, until Shinichi felt like he was being ripped apart in a thousand different directions.

_What's going on?! _Shinichi suddenly recalled cool liquid sliding down his throat, bringing with it something small and hard. The fire in his veins that seemed to melt his very bones. The relief he had found in the blackness.

Through the pain and confusion, Shinichi realized that he could feel two distinct points of energy. No, not quite energy, more like strong magnetic force. One point, where it had been all along at the exact place of his death, the other slowly moving away. He could only assume the second point was his body, and both points were fighting to keep him close.

Shinichi focused on the crime scene. He didn't want to be stuck with the body. He didn't want to witness the autopsy, or the funeral. He didn't want to be forced to hang out in a cemetery for the rest of his afterlife, with who knows how many creepy old ghosts. Besides, crime scenes were his thing, where he could stretch his mind and bring the truth to light. As soon as Shinichi's focus was clear and his decision made, the pain stopped. Nothing was left of it, nothing but a memory to prove it had been there at all.

_Well that was certainly unpleasant. I guess a ghost can't have more than one anchor. At least now I know _what _killed me, if not who or why. It was probably poison._

With his senses restored to him, Shinichi was able to watch as his body was loaded into the back of the van and was driven away. He wasn't the only one watching as the van disappeared around the corner; most of the police were too. Shinichi did notice, however, one man who turned the other way, unable to gawk like the rest of them. Shinichi frowned again. Megure sure wasn't taking this easy.

* * *

A/N: There. Done. I have to say, this chapter wasn't very nice to me. It kept trying to change, but I didn't want it to. I'm also going to try updating in a more regular fashion, but don't get your hopes up. I said _try_.

Oh, and I have no clue what protocol is for coroners in america, let alone japan. I guessed and hoped it was close enough.


	7. Chapter 7

"Um, Satou-san?"

"Shush Takagi-kun," Satou interrupted before her partner had the chance to say what she knew he was thinking. "Let me finish my coffee."

"But Satou-san, I…"

Satou leaned across the table and placed her finger against Takagi's lips, effectively shutting up both his mouth and his brain. "I said shush. No talking." She waited for his nod of agreement before she retreated to her side of the table, oblivious to the faint blush crawling up Takagi's neck and cheeks. She nodded triumphantly and took another sip of her coffee.

The next ten minutes were spent in silence, both of the young officers occupied by there own thoughts. Takagi was trying desperately to stop thinking of his partner such an unprofessional way. The clock on the wall was suddenly very interesting. It was neat, no numbers, just a black rim, simple hands and a blank face. It was placed just above center on an otherwise unadorned wall. The black against red made a sharp contrast that drew the eye, and seemed to create space. Takagi focused his attention on the seconds ticking by, part of his mind recognized the genius in the simple design, and he made a note to try something like it himself. His apartment could stand to appear larger.

Satou was contemplating their good luck for finding a 24 hour café so near the Kudo residence. No doubt Kudo Shinichi himself had frequented this place in the past. Satou made a mental note to come back. It might be worth questioning the employees and guests later in the investigation.

_And the coffee is good_, she admitted to herself. Her work found her in this general area either very late or very early to often for her tastes. The clean lines and simple layout appealed to her, and the color pallet of red black and grey, was almost as stimulating as the beverages, no dozing would be permitted here. She raised her cup to her lips only to discover that there was nothing left to drink. Glancing across the table she noticed Takagi looking at her silently and expectantly. She sighed.

"Okay Takagi-kun. What were you saying?"

"Do you really think it was a good idea?" Takagi cut to the chase, just in case his partner decided to indulge in another cup. "Leaving Ran-san alone, I mean."

"What else was there to do? She just shut down. Wouldn't answer any questions, or even respond at all. That girl desperately needs some time to process. The best thing we can do for her right now is give her space."

"But still, shouldn't we have stayed? We need her co-operation. Murder investigations are difficult at the best of times. Ran-san would want us to catch whoever did this."

"Takagi-kun, she needs this. It's not easy to hear that your important person is gone. Trust me." Satuo's kind smile did not falter, nor did the quality of her voice, and yet Takagi couldn't help but feel the smallness of her words. There was pain behind that innocent statement, but neither of the officers where ready to face it, so neither of them acknowledged its presence.

"I promise we'll go back soon, but for now," Satou continued, flagging down the lone waitress, "relax and drink your coffee. You'll definitely need it."

* * *

Tanaka Hoshiro was a simple man with simple goals, simple values, simple needs. He wanted to live happily, retire comfortably, watch his family grow around him. He valued truth, justice and fair play. He needed the frenzied activity of an open case, the thrill of the chase and the satisfaction of catching the bad guy. His life as head of security allowed him to earn an honest living, stay busy, keep out of trouble; it left him feeling empty.

Detective and police work had suited him perfectly. Everything that he could ask for had been there. The mix of certainty that your partner would back you up and the uncertainty and thrill of the job, the feeling of independence when working a lead combined with being part of a close knit team, knowing that they were making a difference in the world. He had never been happier than when he was on the force. But things change.

He sighed, refocusing his attention on the case at hand. No use dwelling on the past when he could help someone right now. And Megure defiantly looked like he could use some help. He was standing within the taped off area, but as far away from the chalk outline as possible. To the few cops still on scene, he looked as composed as ever. To Tanaka, his old partner looked like he was coming apart at the seams.

"Hey," Tanaka greeted as he walked up to the inspector.

Megure turned to look him directly in the eyes. "Tanaka-kun. I have to thank you again for calling me."

"I knew you would want this one."

"I don't just want it. I need it. I need to personally get this guy. And I don't trust anyone else to do it properly."

"Oye, you're not thinking…"

"No." Megure cut him off. "I admit that I had entertained the idea, when I got here and saw…Anyway, I've seen to much death in my life to hold on to ideas of revenge."

"…You're a good man, Megure. It took me a lot longer to reach that conclusion." Tanaka admitted softly.

Megure looked squarely at his old partner. It had been so long since they had last seen each other he couldn't _not_ notice the lines on his brow and the grey in his hair. He looked old. As old as Megure was feeling now. "Your loss was a lot more personal. No one would have blamed you if you had…"

"I would have blamed me." This time Megure was cut off in mid sentence.

The following silence was both awkward and comfortable. Neither man knowing just what to say, both content with saying nothing at all. They let themselves relax enough in each other's familiar presence that the ringing of Megure's cell phone nearly had them jumping three feet in the air.

"Ah, um, ahem." Megure fumbled at his jacket pocket. "This is Megure" he answered.

Tanaka took a few steps back, not wanting to intrude. He saw Megure nod a few times, and gesture, as if the person he was talking to could see.

"What do you mean you LOST her!?" Megure almost yelled. "Hmpf, ok, I'll be right there." He hung up the phone with a snap.

"Two of my best officers just _lost_ a key witness." He said, somewhat disgustedly, in response to Tanaka's questioning look. "I'll be back as soon as we find her."

"Best of luck." Tanaka called after Megure as he practically stalked off the crime scene, leaving behind a single officer to maintain the barrier.

* * *

"_Ran is missing?" _Shinichi was snapped out of his reverie by the inspectors annoyed and disbelieving almost-yell, and by the pulse of irritation accompanied by it. It didn't take him long to realize who the inspector was talking about. After all, there was only one witness so far.

"_How can she be missing? I remember hearing Megure-keibu say she was at my place. Wouldn't the officers have stayed with her? How could they _lose_ her?"_

Shinichi started to pace, er, float back and forth, chasing down various possibilities in his mind. _Did she leave? For home, or somewhere else? Was she taken? Who might take her? Why weren't the police watching her?_ Back and forth he tossed ideas through his head, but without more information, wasn't able to narrow it down at all. _"Where are you, Ran?"_

It wasn't until latter, until the lone police guard had hurriedly left for the bathroom, until Tanaka Hoshiro retired for a short nap, until the sun had almost started to peek over the horizon, that he finally got an answer.

* * *

AN: So much for regular updating. And I don't even have a good excuse. Awell, hopefully I can keep on it this time.

And by the way, I'm somewhat regretting making Shinichi loose his memory at the beginning. It just complicates things and doesn't really add anything to the plot. My original conception was that he would have to investigate his own identity, but that didn't really work out. so between you and me, lets just forget it ever happened :)

Oh, and once again, please feel free to point out any grammar or spelling mistakes. It seems the more glaringly obvious it is, the more likely I am to miss it.


	8. Chapter 8

Ran didn't know how long she had been walking. Maybe the sky was a little lighter, maybe the occasional car passed by a bit more frequently. Maybe not. Maybe only minuets had passed since she left Shinichi's house in search of the truth. Confusion, frustration, grief she wouldn't let herself feel, and countless other emotions threatened to overwhelm her. One thought, one goal kept her sane. _There is only one truth._ His words echoing in her mind did not reassure her or console her. They only sent her searching.

She stopped walking only when she had reached the gate. Predictably, it remained firm and unyielding at her touch. Of course it would be locked, she would have realized that, had she been thinking at all. _There has to be a way in,_ Ran glanced around somewhat desperately, but the tall fence looked to be unbroken in either direction.

Her frustration built, growing stronger and even more overwhelming with every moment she was unable to move toward her goal. Just as she was about to collapse into a crying puddle of goo, the frustration began to melt, giving way to hotter, stronger, and far more violent anger.

Ran leveled a glare at the iron fence that might have melted a lesser metal. She took a couple steps backward.

_A measly is fence trying to stop me._

She instinctively calculated the height, distance, and the necessary speed and force.

_The police lied to me._

She leaned forward and felt familiar muscles start to work.

_Shinichi wasn't home._

She took a few running steps before gathering her legs beneath her and pushing up.

_Dad was drunk again._

She stretched out her arms and caught hold of the top of the fence

_Shinichi didn't answer the phone._

She swung herself up and over.

_I had to walk home alone._

She landed in a crouch, eyes still blazing.

_Shinichi left!_

She looked around the empty theme park. There was something darkly sinister about it, empty of people in the small hours of the morning. The flashing lights, meant to draw attention and generate excitement were lifeless. Brightly painted signs were gray in the dim light. The ambient atmosphere of abandonment immediately extinguished Ran's anger, giving way for other emotions that threatened to drown her.

She took a deep breath. There is only one truth. Moving forward, she continued retracing the steps that had brought her away from this place hours before.

* * *

It wasn't the unusual quiet that had snapped him from the endless cycle of thoughts that had bogged down his mind. Nor was it the increasing light of the sky. What he felt now he had only experienced once before, no more than a few hours ago.

The tug came from inside his chest, around where his heart would have been if it had still been beating. Shinichi immediately came to full alertness, the memory of previous agonies still fresh in his mind. This tug felt different though. Less violent, less forceful, but somehow more irresistible. This time there would be no choosing. It was her, and nothing else that could keep him here, keep him whole.

If he had been breathing, he would have stopped. Her grief filled eyes stared straight at him, punching a hole through his soul. She stood there; cold and beautiful, letting the low wind set her hair wild around her. In that infinitely long moment, nothing else mattered, nothing but her eyes, her gaze. He couldn't help himself as he drifted closer to her. It was like she was dragging him in.

Ran suddenly looked down, breaking the tension but not the intensity. She glanced around, as if seeing this place for the first time. First to fall under her scrutiny was the marking tape, winding its way around the clearing. Then she studied the grass, pristinely kept but for the crisscross of footprints. The small shrubs, planted to keep wandering children from getting lost behind the mass of rides and buildings. Finally, she seemed to force herself to really see the one thing she had most feared to find, a simple outline in chalk, sprawled on the ground in front of her.

She couldn't deny it any longer. There was no mistake, no cruelly played joke. This wasn't one of her infrequent nightmares that she could wake up from. She had come here looking for the truth, and the truth was clearly outlined in white chalk and caution tape.

Shinichi was dead. And yet…Ran shook her head. She was determined to keep her mind from playing any more tricks on her. Shinichi was dead. He had to be. There would be no more celebratory trips out. No more walks to school. No more laughing and arguing. And he would never know how she really felt.

Shinichi, hovering nearby, picked up many of the thought and emotions that went through Rans mind, both because of his acute observations and his newfound sensitivity. If he hadn't been so focused on her grief, he might have noticed that it was easier to pick up information from Ran than from any other person he had tried it on that night.

He remained still. Part of him not wanting to disturb or intrude, the other more selfish part was simply too afraid she'd look through him. He had no right to expect things to be different with Ran then with the rest of the population, and he couldn't bear for her to not see him. The moment they had experienced earlier must have been a fluke, a wonderfully terribly heartbreaking fluke.

He remained still, at least, until she started to cry. As the first silent drops began to roll down her face, he found himself in front of her, crouching slightly, peering up at her lowered face. "Ran" he said softly, sadly. "Ran it's okay." She screwed her eyes closed and shook her head as if trying to clear unwanted thoughts.

"Ran." Shinichi said a little louder, more insistent. He knew that she couldn't hear him, see him, touch him, but right now it was more important that she stop crying. He couldn't stand her crying over him. "Ran, you're strong. You'll be fine. You'll get through this. I promise you will." Her silent tears turned to gut wrenching sobs.

"Ran. Ran!" Shinichi was getting frantic. He couldn't, simply couldn't allow her to continue like this. It would break his heart. "Ran. Listen to me. You have to trust me. I…I love you so much, and I think now I know you felt the same. You have to stop this. I can't stand this. You have to stop crying for me. You…" Shinichi was cut off as her sobs became a keen. She was shaking her head again, more violently.

"Please," he begged her. "Please, you…" he sensed, and then saw, lone officer returning, hastened by the wailing noise. "Ran!" Shinichi would have raised his voice if he had had a voice to raise. As it was, he focused on projecting, on making her understand. "Ran. Listen to me! You are going to be sad, yes, but you can't let it control your life. You're going to miss me, and trust me when I say that I'll be missing you. But you're going to go home, you're going to go to school, you're going to keep going, and in time, I don't know how much, you're going to leave this behind."

The guard was closer now. Ran had covered her ears. "You're going to leave this behind," he continued. "Eventually you'll forget about this. And you'll… you'll forget about me."

Ran choked off a sob, straightened her head and put her hands by her side. The officer was just a few feet away now. She looked Shinichi straight in the eye. "Never." She said, almost a whisper. The officer opened his mouth to speak. She turned to run, and didn't look back.

* * *

AN: This was lots of fun to write, and I hope it makes up for Rans somewhat disappointing lack of reaction when she was first told of the death. I really wanted all the emotion to come out here instead.

Next up: Ran thinks she's going crazy. Mwahaha. this is not going to be easy for her.


	9. Chapter 9

Shinichi stood in the air, wide eyed and slack jawed_. She can see me? "You can see me?"_ Shinichi called, watching as Ran half stumbled at his words. _"You can see me!"_

This was beyond anything that he had dared to hope for. He had resigned himself to a bleak future alone. Fading from memory, passing into local lore. A hazy blotch in some tourists camera lens, a cold spot that people might notice in passing, or a dare for school children to test their courage. With nothing new or exciting or fulfilling, doomed to an eternity of insignificance and boredom.

But this changed everything. He didn't have to stay here for the rest of forever. He could communicate, he could move, he could look for clues and solve crimes. He could laugh and fight and, well, live.

It didn't quite make up for being dead. He would still have to watch as his friends and family, as people he cared about, gradually forgot him. He couldn't run, or kick a ball, or personally put a criminal away. He would never really grow up, never have kids, never get old. But he would have Ran.

The officer on scene was just as shocked as Shinichi, albeit for a different reason. Hours of uneventful guard duty, and in the five minuets he's away to the bathroom the very girl they had been looking all over for turns up. At least, the officer assumed that the girl now running into the distance was Mouri Ran. Who else would have occasion to cry over an empty crime scene at a closed Amusement park before the sun was even up?

"Miss wait! Please stop!" the officer cried. Inspector Megure had made it very clear that finding this witness was top priority. They had almost no evidence, no suspects and no other witnesses. She could be integral to solving this case, and this case must be solved.

When Ran gave no sign off stopping, or acknowledging the command in any way shape or form, the officer swore softly under his breath and gave chase.

Shinichi had watched all of this with a goofy smile on his face. The officer's plight amused him greatly. The was no chance in hell that he could come close to catching Ran if she didn't want to be caught. When she was like this, she was an unstoppable force. It was best to just wait until she had tired herself out.

Shinichi himself was not at all bothered by his best friends flight for two reasons. First and foremost, he was so immensely pleased that nothing could bother him right now. It seemed as if everything was right with the world. Second, he was well aware Ran would come around eventually. Her cooperation with the police was guaranteed, as was her eventual acceptance of his continued existence as a ghost. Shinichi had all the time in the world to wait.

As pleased as a cat with cream, Shinichi was so caught up in possibilities that he had forgotten one of the limitations of his new form. And unfortunately for both Shinichi and the police officer, Ran was a very fast sprinter.

The invisible wall smacked straight into Shinichi's stationary back, knocking the smile off his face and the metaphysical breath from his lungs. Wherever Ran was going, she was dragging Shinichi with her. For the second time in as many minuets, the ghost of Kudo Shinichi was completely stunned.

* * *

Two thoughts predominated Ran's mind as she turned from the crime scene. _Shinichi's gone_, and _I'm definitely going crazy_. She wasn't sure which of those thoughts were stronger, or which of them she would rather be true. On one hand, she knew that being insane was really bad. It would hurt so many people besides herself, people that she cared deeply about and who cared about her. On the other hand, it meant that she could see him again.

"_You can see me?" _she didn't hear him. She hadn't actually heard anything that he'd said, but she had understood clearly enough. He felt so hopeful, so grateful that she almost turned to fling herself into his arms. Instead, she stumbled. _He isn't real,_ she reminded herself, _he __can't__ be real_.

"_You can see me!"_ It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair of her own mind to betray her like this. Why couldn't she just accept that fact that Shinichi was dead, instead of imagining him, his ghost, telling her that it would all be ok? Telling her that he loved her. She desperately wanted to believe his words. She had been so close to believing his words. But it wasn't real, it wasn't fair.

All she wanted right now was to get away from this place, this…scar, this visible reminder of an undeniable and unacceptable truth. She wanted to get away from _him_, with his all to real appearance and his all to perfect words. So she ran.

She ran away with the same single minded focus with which she had come. Trees, benches and other obstacles were nothing; she dodged past them all with practiced ease, never slowing. The sun coming over the horizon flooded the dark and gloomy space with light, the bright colors slowly becoming more themselves.

In almost no time, she saw the fence that had blocked her path loom up before her, as if trying to rectify its earlier failure. This time, she did not even pause. Ran would not let a fence decide when she could go and stay. She would not let a fence keep her locked here, to be tormented by her own restless imaginings. With a concentrated effort that would seem effortless to observers, she vaulted the tall structure, rolling as she hit the ground both to break the fall and to maintain forward momentum.

Then she was up and running again. Outside the park, everything seemed a lot more open. The road stretched far into the distance in multiple directions. Traffic was light, just starting to pick up as people made there way to their individual places of work. It only took a split second to choose a direction, although Ran currently had no idea why she had chosen this road. It wasn't familiar. Nothing looked familiar right now; everything was blurred together into a single existence.

It looked like any other road, every other road, but it just felt… different. The buildings she passed were just normal buildings. The various people emerging on the street could have been somebody anybody or nobody for all she cared. She didn't know where she was going, or how to get anywhere but away from here. Her feet and her impulses guided her. Her mind, along with a certain somewhat confused spirit, was just along for the ride.

* * *

When Ran finally slowed to a walk, she was out of breath and on the brink of exhaustion. The sun was now well into its daily journey across the sky, the morning rush of traffic had been and gone. Rans head felt clearer now, although the tightness in her chest hadn't faded in the least.

She looked at her watch, surprising herself with how long she'd been running for. She had just shattered her previous record, the one she had set while training for nationals. _Oh…dad's probably freaking out right now_. _I didn't even go home last night._ She remembered the night with growing embarrassment. _And those officers…crap. I probably got them into trouble. Then I went to an active crime scene…then I ran form another officer… and I missed school…crap._

She turned to walk home, only to discover that she did not know where home was. "Way to go Ran," she berated herself. "You run off like a maniac only to get yourself lost. Real smooth." She was half expecting her rebellious mind to come up with a snarky comeback.

"_Don't worry. I know where we are."_ Ran was not expecting that at all. Not even a little. She whipped around, sure that she was the only one on this section of the sidewalk, but ready to kick someone's face in anyway. Her eyes went wide, well, wid_er. "Really Ran, I'm impressed. I really didn't expect you to go this far."_

She narrowed her eyes at him. _It,_ she reminded herself. _It isn't real_. He sat crossed legged, floating high enough in the air to look her in the eyes. _Don't acknowledge it, she told herself. It isn't real. You're making it all up. He's…he's dead. That thing isn't…can't be Shinichi. Shinichi's gone._

"_Dead, yes. Gone? Not quite so much."_ His smirk was a completely authentic Shinichi smirk. The kind that didn't, or couldn't reach his eyes. The one he usually saved for particularly ironic or depressing murders. The one that Ran wanted to smack off his face whenever she saw it. That smirk nearly did her in. "You're not real. I'm just imagining you. You can't be real."

"_C'mon Ran, you're the one who was always telling me that ghosts were real, and now you won't accept it, now that you have living proof? Well, sort of living." _

"I'm not going to listen to you." Ran stated. She felt tears begun to build behind her eyes again. Why did it have to keep reminding her that he was dead? _Why can't my own mind just leave me alone? _

"_Maybe because I'm not a figment of you're imagination? Maybe because I'm really Shinichi? I'm really dead and I'm really a ghost?"_ Ran narrowed her eyes. She did not appreciate the sarcasm. She turned around and started walking away.

"_Kay, I'm sorry. Just her me out."_ He pleaded, popping in front of her. She turned again, moving to cross the street. _"Wait,"_ he kept talking, moving to block her again. _"Just wait."_

She stopped, took a deep breath and shook her head. Then she stepped through him.

It was cold. Much too cold for the late morning sun. Even after she passed completely through him, the cold stayed. It felt like someone just steeped her bones in liquid nitrogen. She faltered, unable to continue forward.

"_Wow! That was most defiantly weird."_ Came the startled exclamation behind her. Ran shivered. _"Oi Ran, you ok? You look kind of sick."_ Concern colored his almost-voice now.

Ran forced herself to keep walking, to ignore him. None of this was real. _Its all in your head, Ran. All in your head._

"_Jeeze, Ran. Now is not the time to be stubborn. Would you please just listen to me?"_ Ran kept walking, letting his words roll off her like tears down a cheek.

"_Really? Out of all the ghost stories you've ever been told, I'm the only one you don't believe? Why is that, exactly?"_ Shinichi's spoke freely, almost thoughtlessly, but under his words, Ran could feel the hurt and sadness in his not-voice.

"I… I can't. I can't even think about it. I can't let myself hope. You'll break my heart." Her voice was so small it was nearly carried away by the breeze.

"_What if I can prove it?"_ Ran flinched. She couldn't run any more. She had to face facts, learn truth. There were only two outcomes she could see. She could be right, therefore hallucinating the spirit of her dead friend, and go check herself into a mental institute. Or, she could be wrong, he could actually be here and dead at once, and she might not have to loose the boy she was falling in love with. Two possibilities, one truth.

"Prove it how?"

* * *

A/N: yay! It I had this mostly finished for a while, but I couldn't end it right. ...now I just have to think of how to prove it to Ran's standards. She's being rather stubborn...

Feel free to shoot me comments, criticisms and Ideas. If I've already got it planned, I wont budge, but there are plenty of holes that need to be filled.


	10. Chapter 10

The sun was past its zenith when the car pulled silently up to the house. The driver maneuvered the vehicle to park with practiced ease, his hands needing no direction from his brain. He had only done this a thousand times before. Silence grew as the sound of the engine died away. Seconds, and then minuets ticked by, and still the silence kept. There was no movement on the street, no movement in the house, no movement in the car. The driver's eyes roamed, looking at the empty house, then at the sleeping passenger at his side.

The man moved to gently shake the woman awake then stopped, thinking better of it. The last fourteen hours had been long and hard on both of them, and the days to come would not be easier. Best to let her sleep, he could unpack their things himself.

The sleeper stirred a little as he roughly shoved the door of the rental car open. They could have afforded better, but they had been in a hurry and this had been the first available. The man groaned as he stood. His back would not be thanking him for the nearly twelve-hour direct flight from their condo in Los Angeles to their home in Japan.

That was, however, only a small consideration in his mind. Currently, most of his extensive brainpower was focused on the one place that, no matter where he went, he had always considered home. Everything looked exactly as he remembered it from the last time they had come to visit their son. The garden, though a good deal less flashy and flowery, was flourishing. The door jam was just a little warped, probably from being slammed shut one too many times either by Shinichi in a childish fit, or Ran-kun in a fit of rage. The rest of the house was far from immaculate, but by no means messy. It all looked neat and tidy, but with a lived in feeling.

As the man stood, just watching, his face and features did nothing to show his unexpected anger at the oblivious building. That feeling was a lie. This place that had once been home was a lie. Things had changed forever, the world as he had known it for the last sixteen years was destroyed, and yet the house continued to exist normally. It stood steady, seeming to ignore the death of its only resident, the death of his son and his pride. Unforgivable.

A car door slammed, he jumped three feet in the air, and reality crashed around him. "Yusaku," his passenger whined, rubbing sleep from her eyes. "We're here. You should have woken me."

"Yes dear," Yusaku answered out of habit, "pass me your bag. I haven't been able to get through to Megure-keibu, so we might as well unpack."

Together they walked up to the door, just like they had a thousand times before. He held all the bags; she dug for the key. A ritual of normalcy neither of them could bring themselves to break. "Aha," she said, according to script. "Found it." He stood patiently waiting, completely in character. The door swung open with barely a creak, admitting the two as if nothing had changed.

* * *

Satou Miwako was blushing like a schoolgirl on a first date and hating herself for it. There was no mistake in her mind that she had achieved a most spectacular color, based on how hot her cheeks felt. The look on her partners face was also a very clear indication of her own embarrassment, as well as his.

Though a factor, a significant factor, embarrassment was not the only thing making her blood boil. Anger, frustration and guilt were quite present in her thoughts. Anger at both herself for being wrong, and at her partner for being right, frustration at the lack of a solid lead and guilt for losing a key witness.

She let her mind drift back to her lecture. A variation of the same lecture she had seen bestowed on many a rookie, but had never had the misfortune of being on the receiving end of. _Until now,_ she amended. And now on top of everything else, she also felt a twinge of remorse for laughing at all those rookies. Nobody deserved this.

"Not only that, but…" the Inspector continued into what was probably the ninth straight minute of an extremely loud, very humiliating tirade. Satou hadn't felt so berated since she had thrown a baseball through the front window of her father's patrol car. It would have been the year before he died, she had been about seven years old.

"…ringing off the hook…" Satou looked up at her boss, the only person in the world who could make her feel like a kid again, a man she respected deeply and was growing to love like family. She couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. A smile that was rare in its sincerity and completely disarmingly sweet. Megure's constant stream of sharp words tapered off, unsure of how to proceed. Takagi took his turn at going bright pink, though Satou would never guess just how much her smile affected him.

"What?" the inspector asked suspiciously. Satou's smile remained impossibly bright.

"Nothing really. I was just thinking that we should get back to looking for Ran-san."

Megure thought for a second. "Our guy reported she was at the crime scene not long after you _lost her._" His tone was accusatory, but his eyes were resigned. Satou could tell he wasn't truly holding her at fault. "I don't doubt it was Ran-kun, he lost her when she jumped the fence."

"The outer fence?" Takagi nearly choked on the words, "but that fence must be nine feet tall!"

"Yeah, that's I'm sure it was her. Ran-kun is the only girl I know of who could do that." Megure explained.

"We already checked the perimeter of the park, and the shortest route to both her home and the Kudou house." Satou stated. "You know her Inspector, where else would she go?"

Another short silence as he considered. "I don't know. I have men on the street looking for her, so there's not much more I can do at this point." Satou winced internally at the resignation she heard in the inspector's voice. "For now lets head back to the Kudou house to regroup. If we're lucky, Ran-kun will show up there."

"We could certainly use the luck." Satou sighed. "I'll drive. It'll be faster." Ignoring the look her boss gave her, Satou made her way to the driver's side door.

"Nothing illegal, Satou-_keiji._" He warned.

She just smiled. "Who, me? Wouldn't dream of it." Takagi blanched, and put on his seatbelt.

* * *

Yukiko was tired. Tired of wondering, tired of crying. She wanted nothing more than to wake up from this terrible nightmare, but she was too tired to sleep. Her short nap on the ride over had done nothing to ease the deep weariness inside her. It felt as if she had been treading water with her close on and not sitting stationary in a plane seat for the last fourteen hours or so. Now she sat perched on the very edge of her bed, looking at nothing and trying not to think.

Yusaku was pacing again. Six steps to the right, turn, six steps to the left, turn, repeat; passing through her line of sight every four seconds. Back and forth, back and forth until she was tired of that too. "Stop it," She hissed, "Just stop."

He stopped. A few short steps took him to her side. She barely moved, barely even made a wrinkle on the dusty sheets. Almost as if she wasn't really there at all. "You should sleep." He said, not quite gently.

"I can't." she said weakly.

"You should try"

"I can't any more than you can." She spat, suddenly angry, suddenly craving the noise and disruption of everyday life. She wanted to start a fight, wanted anything to keep away from the grief that seemed to feed off her very soul. As Yusaku stood and turned to face her, she readied herself for battle. Surely he would insist she rest, or perhaps bristle at her tone, maybe even return fire. After years of marriage she was well equipped for anything he could come up with. He held out his hand to her.

She looked up at him, feeling surprised and cheated by the kind gesture. It wasn't fair. She wanted to fight. "Come," the single word wasn't a request. It was a demand. "I'll make tea."

She took his hand, ready to take the offensive, righteous anger still coiled bellow her heart. _He thinks I'll let him diffuse this with tea, hm? Well I'll show him I'm not so easy to deal with_. Yukiko opened her mouth to let her poisonous thoughts into the air, but before even one word escaped her all the anger and frustration fled her body. She had felt it; just for a second, the strong confidant hand in hers had trembled.

As Yusaku pulled her to her feet, the bone deep weariness also began its retreat. She looked at her partner, and for the first time since she had answered the phone that morning she could no longer see the smooth confidence and sheer charisma that Yusaku always carried with him. What she saw was her own grief, perfectly matched pain for pain and fear for fear. Yukiko thought she had cried all of her tears, but the feeling behind her eyes told her differently. "Yusaku…" she started.

"Shh. Not now. Lets go have tea." She nodded, and then trailed after him to the kitchen. _Tea,_ she thought, _would be nice_.


	11. Chapter 11

On some level, Shinichi was expecting resistance. He knew that it wouldn't be as easy as popping up and saying 'Hi Ran, how are you? By the way, I'm a ghost.' He knew, but he had still hoped that she would simply accept and welcome his continued existence, that he wouldn't have to reason or plead or prove. He hadn't expected to feel disappointed when she didn't trust him right away.

_Prove it, she says. Well I can prove It_. _"Close your eyes."_ Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. _"That's not good enough. All the way closed."_

"Why?" her voice demanded.

"_I'm proving. Let me."_ Her glare narrowed further, and finally her eyes closed. _"Good. Keep them closed."_ Shinichi floated up as high as he could, trying to get his bearings. He had said he had known where they were and hadn't lied, he just wanted to be sure. He had to get this right. _There. I recognize that building. We're not as far as I thought._

As he returned to ground level, he was somewhat surprised to find Ran still had her eyes closed. He positioned himself directly in front of her and reached for her hand. As his fingers passed through hers, he felt the same warm, tingly sensation he experienced earlier when she had stepped through him. She gasped, and jumped a little, but her eyes stayed closed.

"_Walk with me"_ he said and tried to tug her hand forward. To his surprise, it lifted just a little, and Ran took a step forward. He heard doubts screaming in her mind, but also the fierce determination to be sure, one way or the other. No words, just strong feelings. _"Relax, I'm not going to let you get run over."_

She stiffened. "How do I know that?"

He thought for a second. _"I guess you don't."_ He tugged at her hand again, she took another step forward. _"You'll just have to trust me."_

"How can I when you're not real?" she argued, but she began walking at a steady, albeit slow, pace.

"_Trust yourself then."_ He shrugged "_we're turning left in about fifteen steps."_

Exactly fifteen steps later, she turned; dreading for more than one reason the brick wall of the shop she knew was on her left. She wasn't looking forward to the pain in her face any more that the pain of knowing that Shinichi wasn't real after all. She nearly tripped in surprise when she continued walking, unscathed. Shinichi laughed out loud.

"This is stupid. I shouldn't be listening to you," she said, trying to ignore her rising blush. Whether it was actually Shinichi or a figment of her imagination, Ran didn't like being laughed at. She continued to walk despite her complaints, prompted by his slight tugs. "Where are we going?"

"_That's for me to know and you to find out,_" he made no effort to hide the amusement in his voice. After all, getting a rise out of Ran was one of his greatest joys in life…afterlife. "_Stop worrying so much. I won't walk you into a wall or off a bridge." _

"Hmpf. Isn't that what malevolent spirits do? Lead innocents to their death using trickery and deceit?" she had meant it as a joke, but the truth of the statement struck her fearful as soon as she had said it. She stopped midstride.

_Crap,_ Shinichi just barely kept from face palming, _this is not going well._ His sharp as ever mind quickly grasped the consequences of that simple thought. A third possibility, and a sinister one at that, definitely complicated things. How could Shinichi possibly prove himself if Ran didn't trust him to? She still had her eyes closed, which meant Shinichi still had a chance, as long as he didn't screw up. The waves of fear he was picking up were being counterbalanced by Ran's own stubborn determination to be sure. He quickly considered his options and picked the best approach.

_"Really? An Evil spirit?"_ Shinichi didn't have to work hard to lace his not-voice with sarcasm and disbelief. After years of poking fun at his friend's belief in the supernatural, his derision was practically automatic. _"You'd rather believe that I'm trying to kill you than admit I could be exactly what I say I am. I'm hurt."_ He wouldn't admit even to himself the truth of that last statement, not when so much relied on being casual.

_There_, he felt a strange combination of familiarity and irritation poking through the fear in little bits just before he saw the corner of her mouth lift, just a little. _Good._ Shinichi took a moment to breathe a sigh of relief, or at least go through the motions since both breathing and sighing were no longer strictly possible. If he had over-reacted at all, if he had begged or reasoned or reassured, Ran would have almost certainly shut him out, because that's exactly what an impersonating ghost would have done.

The lessening fear was quickly being replaced by suspicion. Shinichi wasn't in the clear just yet, and a careless word or deed could lose him major points on the trust scale. Not that he didn't have the time to earn them back, but he would rather not put Ran through further mental trauma. He would rather his only link with the world not think herself crazy. Or possessed_. _

"_Seriously Ran. This is the best and clearest way I can prove myself. If you want to open your eyes and walk away I can't and won't stop you. Or you can follow me. If you're not completely satisfied that I am both a separate entity and benign within the hour, I'll admit defeat." _Shinichi paused to let his words soak through her suspicion. He thought he sensed a bit of curiosity in her. Curiosity was good. He knew that sometimes the only thing able to break through good old self preservation was sweet, innocent curiosity. That, and a good old fashioned wager.

It seemed time to raise the stakes. _"Tell you what, if at the end of one hour you admit that I am Kudo Shinichi back from the dead than I get to stick around for as long as I want. But if you do not say I'm Shinichi you will never see or hear from me again. Deal?"_ The wager was just that; a gamble. It was a gamble Shinichi was confident he could win. He waited for her reply. And waited. And started to fidget. And was just about to break down and try something else when she nodded. Shinichi fought to stay calm, but fear and hope seemed determined to make war inside his head.

"_Okay. We've got almost three straight blocks ahead before the next turn, so just go straight until I say otherwise. And no peeking. I want my victory to be complete." _

* * *

Ran was annoyed. Very, very annoyed. In almost forty minuets of walking with her eyes closed, she had turned seven corners, crossed three streets, one of which required her to wait for a walk light, greeted four random passersby, and skittered around a puddle without getting her feet wet all according to spectral suggestion. Even with her eyes closed the presence, whatever it was that was leading her, radiated smugness.

"Now was that really necessary? Having me stop to smell the roses was a little much, don't you think?"

"_Awe c'mon, Ran. I couldn't resist. Besides, it makes pretty good proof that I'm not a figment of your imagination. You didn't even know they were there." _

"All it proves is you're an arrogant jerk with an over developed sense of irony."

"_Good. At least 'arrogant jerk' beats 'evil entity out for my soul'."_

"Go ahead and kill me. Then I wouldn't have to listen to your annoying voice anymore."

"_Careful what you wish for. For all you know, you could wind up trapped in limbo with me for all eternity, with no choice but to listen to me recite all the Sherlock Holmes stories from memory."_

Ran shuddered. "Ugh. That would be torture."

"_Stop here."_ The playful tone was gone from his voice, essentially putting a stop to the familiar banter. _"There's a bench to your right. We should wait awhile for foot traffic to thin. It's getting harder to keep you from smashing heads with some poor _

_joe."_

Ran turned to her right and found the bench with relatively little effort. It no longer surprised her that the ghost voice, she still wouldn't call him Shinichi, seemed to know everything about her surroundings. It was weird at first, but sometime after ten minutes and before twenty minutes into the experiment she got tired of doubting every step. It was around that time that he had started to ask her to do more difficult things, such as stepping over or around obstacles and chatting with people on the street. The flowers were just his way of showing off.

She gradually became more and more comfortable with the voice, and had even started conversing naturally with it. They talked about mundane things like the latest classroom gossip, or which team had the best chance of winning the big game. It was so much like her daily chats with Shinichi that she wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. Heck, he had even managed to slip a few Holmes quotes in.

Sitting there, she let herself relax for the first time since she had left the amusement park. She felt the presence settle beside her. Wouldn't it be wonderful if it really was Shinichi sitting here next to her? And yet she couldn't erase that little corner, marked off in police tape, from her mind. Ran squared her shoulders and forced the mood back from amiable to tense. "You haven't convinced me yet."

With one sentence the voice managed to yank the mood back to friendly. _"Sure I have, you're just too stubborn to admit it."_ Ran blushed and he laughed.

"Shut it. And I'm not stubborn."

"_You are stubborn. And now you're sulking,"_ he scolded gently, _"I thought you'd know by now that I'm always right." _

Ran sulked.

"_Anyway, my time is almost up, and I guess this is close enough. You can open your eyes."_

She had almost forgotten that they were closed. With a sigh she slowly opened her eyes, allowing them to adjust to the bright sunlight before trying to take stock of her surroundings. The first thing she noticed was that she was sitting in the shade. Awfully considerate of the ghost thing. The second thing she noticed was that she recognized the building across the street. She gasped.

"_You should see the look on your face."_ Ran turned to face the boy sitting next to her. No, she thought, Shinichi. She looked at his clear blue eyes, his tame yet tousled hair, his mocking grin and she couldn't deny him. But she also couldn't deny the other truth she had earlier accepted. Shinichi was dead. The only reconciliation of these truths came from her pre-existing belief in ghosts combined with the transparent nature of her current companion. He was there and not there at the same time. Dead, but not gone.

She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand and pretended she wasn't crying.

"You, sir, have got a lot of explaining to do." She tried to make her voice firm and winced internally when it wavered.

"_But before that…"_ Shinichi looked at his wrist expectantly. _"I have a deal to win."_

"I'm not going to admit that you won. Your ego is already over inflated."

"_Hey, that was uncalled for. And it is not."_

"Oh please, if your head gets any bigger you'll have trouble getting it through the door." She scoffed.

"_Oh, that won't be a problem."_ Shinichi waved his hand airily. _"I don't need doors anymore."_

Ran stopped with her mouth half open, snappy retort frozen on her lips. "Wha?" the sound she made was barely intelligible.

"_I can walk through walls. One of the perks of not having body. Although it doesn't quite make up for being unable to affect the physical world." _

Ran blinked, trying to process the many implications of that single statement. "I guess that _is _kind of standard," she managed at last.

"_Anyway_," Shinichi pantomimed checking the time. _"There's about thirty seconds left until game over."_

"I think you've proved your point." Ran pointed out. Shinichi began to tap his foot.

"_Twenty."_

"You really are going to make me say it, aren't you?"

"_Fifteen."_

"Urgh. I can't believe you!"

"_Eleven."_

"Fine. You win."

"_Six." _

"Shinichi!" He smiled triumphantly.

"Ran!"

Both teens turned to see a flustered Mori Kogorou fall down the last few steps of the agency.

* * *

Sato screeched around the corner of a quiet street. "Um Sato-san?" her passenger had to unclench his jaw in order to speak.

"What, Takagi-kun? I didn't break any laws did I?" the female officer's voice was uncomfortably sweet.

"Ah, no." It was technically true that his partner hadn't broken the letter of the law. No, she had only broken its spirit into tiny pieces to be left on the side of the road. "I was wondering, do you remember that car being there last time we came by?" Takagi was motioning towards the small, nondescript vehicle currently inhabiting the driveway of the Kudo house.

"No Takagi, I don't." Her voice had entirely lost its sweetness as she carefully parked a few houses away.

* * *

A/N: I think this is the longest piece of fiction I have ever written. It's harder than I thought. The longer it goes on the more the characters try to hijack the plot and take it in some unknown direction. Oh well, they occasionally come up with good ideas all on their own.

On another note: please take time to let me know what you like or dislike about my writing. I'm working on improving both in form and function, so anything is welcome.


	12. Chapter 12

She stared at her cup, tracing with her eyes the delicate floral pattern depicted on the side, running a finger along the uniform rim. She gently lifted the cup towards her, pausing to watch the rising steam dance and swirl before her eyes. The gentle and familiar aroma teased her senses, just at the edge of perception. The ceramic was warm against her lips, the liquid almost too hot to swallow. Subtle flavour rolled across her tongue to settle in a little knot of warmth deep in her belly. She closed her eyes and sighed, _tea is nice_.

Step step step turn step step step turn. She loved her husband dearly, but if he didn't stop pacing and sit down, she was going to put his head through the wall. Yusaku had the right idea, suggesting tea. It was just, normal. Normal was exactly what she needed to stay on the sane side of grief. Normal allowed her to remember that there was a whole wold out there that was still turning. Right now, maybe for the first time in her life, the drama queen found comfort in insignificance. Tea was nice and normal. Yusaku's pacing was not, and as such was ruining her mood.

The Actress took another breath of the sweet aroma and tried to ignore that back and forth walking. Back and forth, back and forth; he was going to wear a hole in the floor of her kitchen. Yukiko knew what she could and could not do. She could not change the past, raise the dead or tack back choices; she could not do anything at all to alter the current situation. What she could, do thanks to years of practice and hard work, was pretend. She could pretend she wasn't broken

Back and forth. Yukiko glared into her cup realizing something else she could do. "Yusaku. Sit. Down." He sat heavily and she nodded, turning back to her tea, savoring the quiet peace of the moment. Then Yusaku's leg began bouncing up and down of its own accord. Yukiko sighed exasperated. "Try again," she said, "Maybe you'll get through."

With her consent, he grabbed the phone from the table and dialled quickly. He hadn't been able to reach Inspector Megure even though he had been trying ever since the plane landed. His calls were connecting just fine, but Yusaku kept hearing an aggravating tone that meant the line was busy. Yusaku was glad that the inspector was giving the case complete focus, but he wished the man was a little more tech savvy. He probably hadn't even realized he had a call waiting, let alone a hundred and one terse messages demanding a call back.

Yusaku waited with the phone to his ear, hardly aware of the delicate aroma of tea or the brisk autumn breeze sliding through the open window. (The house had gone a little stale in the two years without its mistress; Yukiko had insisted on airing the place out. Not to imply that Shinichi had been less than tidy, his to do list simply hadn't included freshening up the house. Yukiko was a strict housekeeper, appearances to keep and whatnot.) With his entire attention focused on the ringing in his ear, he almost didn't notice another much fainter sound.

The brisk autumn breeze was ringing. He glanced at his wife with raised eyebrows. She nodded and shrugged, then looked over her shoulder questioningly. Yes, she heard the noise and no, she did not know what it was or where it was coming from. The sound was clear but faint. It was the type of generic ring that sent everyone within earshot reaching for their pockets and purses. It was coming from outside.

"Shit." The ringing was joined by muffled cursing and the sound of fumbling. "Who the hell is calling now!" the voice was familiar. Yusaku stuck his head through the window to confirm his suspicion.

"Megure-keibu." The portly man crouched bellow the window frame jumped in surprise and Yusaku had to fight the urge to snicker. He was going for bored and curious, and it wouldn't do to laugh. "What, may I ask, are you doing?"

"Yusaku-kun, you scared the daylights out of me. What the hell are you doing here?" The inspector blustered. He did not enjoy things that pop out of nowhere. In his line of work, surprises were more often than not highly unpleasant.

"Obviously I live here. And I asked you first. Why are you sneaking outside my kitchen window? Last I checked, the door worked just fine."

"No. I mean weren't you just in L.A.? How did you get here so fast?" Yusaku with his infinite patience just looked at him. Megure cleared his throat, remembering just who was talking to. "Never mind. Not important. To answer your question, there was an unfamiliar car in the drive that wasn't here early this morning. I thought it best to check things out."

Yusaku supposed that was reasonable. He didn't like people sneaking around his house, but he understood the importance of caution. "Well since you're here, would you like to come in and have tea? We have a lot of catching up to do." Yusaku wasn't talking about social niceties; he was demanding full 'in the loop' status. Nothing but complete co-operation and file sharing would be tolerated. Someone had murdered his son. This was not a game.

"Ahem. Unfortunately, I can't at the moment." To his credit, Megure did not wilt under Yusaku's laser sharp gaze. He did, however, have the decency to look slightly embarrassed. "Now that I know the car was yours, I really have to get back to finding Ran-kun."

Yusaku blinked in surprise. Yukiko, who had been listening intently, grew worried. She joined her husband at the window, "has something happened to Ran-chan?" Yukiko didn't say 'too'. She hadn't even considered Ran, who spent so much time with her boy, might share his fate.

"No, no." He was quick to reassure the couple. "She was the last person to see Shinichi-kun, and may be our only witness. We… sort of lost track of her."

Yusaku blinked again. "Lost?" he clarified. "You lost a witness." He managed to convey his utter disbelief. How could and experienced team of homicide investigators possibly _lose_ a witness? And not just any witness, perhaps the only witness in a high profile, politically and personally imperative case?

"Um…" The inspector was saved from answering by the chime of his cell phone that he still held in his hand. He flipped it open, grateful for the distraction. "Hello? Wait, slow down Mouri-kun, say that again. You found her? Perfect. No. We need to speak with her as soon as possible. Yes I realize… I know, but it's critically important. No I'm not at the station. No. Can you bring her over to the Kudo's house? Yeah, that's right. Good." He clicked the phone shut.

Yukiko turned and walked toward the cabinet where she kept the good china. Dust motes took flight as she opened the small door to take stock. Everything was exactly as she had left it. Her gaze ran across the delicate edges and fine trim and she couldn't help but recall the first and last time Shinichi had ever dared touch her tea set. He had been around seven, just the age where everything seems like a good idea and nothing goes unexplored. The situation ended up with an odd number of cups and her son scared to go near the kitchen for a week after she threatened to burn a Sherlock Holmes book for every subsequent broken dish.

She swallowed her bitter smile and dragged herself back to the present. "Yusaku dear, would you please bring up more chairs? It appears we will be having guests."

* * *

Shinichi burst out laughing. He didn't mean to, but the sight of Ran's old man sprawled on the sidewalk was both ridicules and completely unexpected. Tact be damned, it wasn't like anyone could hear him anyway. _Strike that_, he thought as he felt Ran level an icy glare strait through him. _She can defiantly hear me._ He managed to control the giggles, but could do nothing about his huge grin.

She had said it. Ran had called him by name, acknowledging his presences. Suddenly the whole being dead thing didn't seem so bad. It was still bad, just not an eternity of loneliness bad. He leaned in close to her and whispered "_I win_!" There was nothing wrong with a bit of good natured gloating.

Ran huffed and glared one more time for good measure before turning her attention to the tangible world. Now wasn't the time to argue with something only she could see. "Dad! Are you alright?"

The (not-so-great) detective jumped to his feet and pulled the girl into a tight hug. Shinichi refused to acknowledge the slight twinge of jealousy. He told himself that just being able to talk to her was enough. Heck, it was a lot better than most dead people got. The man just stood there holding on for dear life. "Uh, Dad? Please?" Ran wiggled a trapped limb in a gentle attempt to pry herself away from her father.

The man made a partial retreat, holding her at arms-length but unwilling to let her go. At least she could breathe properly again. "Ran," Mouri repeated, "Where have you been? Do you know how worried I was? The entire police force has been looking for you? What happened?" The stream of questions was relentless. Ran couldn't possibly respond and instead opted to ignore the lot of them.

Mouri paused for breath, calming down by simply having her in his grasp. One last question, different from the others in that it was soft spoken and irresistible: "Are you okay?"

Ran opened her mouth in an automatic response - _of course I'm okay – _but the words caught in her throat. She tried to swallow them back down or spit them out, but they stayed stuck. Was she okay? He best friend was just murdered. She had seen the crime scene so she couldn't deny it. Shinichi hadn't left though, and as long as he was around Ran could be okay. So was she okay, or not? Which reality (Shinichi is gone, Shinichi is not gone) was more real?

"I…" she had to respond somehow. The longer she stood there with her mouth open the more she felt unsure. What should she say? What could she say? What was true?

"I…" great. Now she was stuttering. Ran was becoming desperate to say _anything_. "I don't know," out slipped the uncertain truth. "Shinichi is dead." Her father nodded though it wasn't a question. "But…" Ran's eyes strayed to the left where Shinichi was slowly shaking his head, a finger pressed against his lips. A flash of irritation loosened the knot in her throat – did he really think she was stupid enough to start spouting about ghosts? "…maybe I'm okay enough." Her eyes were focused on Shinichi, she wasn't talking to her father anymore.

Shinichi chuckled (he had done as much giggling as his pride would allow). He hadn't missed the brief spark in her eye that told him Ran was miffed, and the knowledge was reaffirmed as her feelings prickled over his skin (could he call it skin?). Somehow he knew what she was feeling, and even what she was thinking if the thoughts were clear enough. He had been able to pick up strong emotions from other people, but what he could pick up from Ran was a hundred times more delicate and precise. He wondered if it worked the other way too, if Ran was able to feel him.

Now wasn't the time to discuss the matter. Mouri nodded again before asking yet another question, one that pushed Shinichi mind onto a very different track. "Can you talk to the police?" Oh right. Police. Crime. Mystery. Investigating. Shinichi perked up at the thought. What could be more interesting or satisfying as solving his own murder?

"Megure-keibu says he needs to ask you a few questions. That is, if you think you can."

Ran nodded slowly, remembering the officers she essentially ran out on. She hoped they weren't in any trouble because of her. "I think I can."

Mori nodded once before turning to make a phone call. Shinichi overheard bits and pieces of a one-sided conversation, enough to know that the police were at his house and wanted to question Ran. He ruffled his hair in annoyance. If only he could remember what happened after the jet coaster case, than the whole investigation would go so much smoother. All he could recall was feeling like he had been set on fire.

So what he had was a crime with no witnesses and no evidence. No problem, he had solved tougher cases. Maybe. He just couldn't name any right now. He had never let something as minor as an information vacuum stand in his way before, and he wasn't about to start now. The lack of a physical body could be a problem though. How was he supposed to find anything out if he couldn't ask any questions? Talk about an exercise in frustration.

He started pacing, not having a soccer ball on hand to kick around (he wondered briefly if it was possible to get a ghostly soccer ball. At this point, he'd believe anything). Surely there was something he could do. He would not stand by quietly while other people poked around in his case. Shinichi's ever restless mind paused on an idea. It picked this idea up, turned it over, and looked at it from every angle before grinning triumphantly. That might work.

"_Oy Ran_."

"Shinichi…"

They spoke simultaneously, Ran quietly and Shinichi silently. _"You go first,"_ Shinichi deferred. Whatever she wanted to say was bothering her. Tingles of doubt, confusion and curiosity danced over his skin. He thought knew what she was going to ask but Ran had always been a puzzle and he couldn't be sure.

She hesitated, thinking that it was a stupid question that was better left unanswered. But she wanted to know "would you really have left? If I was to stubborn to admit you were real, would you have left like you promised?" One way, Shinichi was a liar, but the other way he was a deserter. She waited for an answer, and waited, and waited. She shouldn't have asked.

"_No."_

She sighed in relief, "cheater."

"_Hey, it's not like that." _He was quick to defend his honor. _"First of all, I was fully confident in my ability to badger you into submission. I'm not finished," _He raised a palm to fend off her indignant reply. _"But if at the end of the hour I had by some miracle failed to persuade you, I did intend to disappear."_

"But you just said-,"

"_I said I would disappear, but Ran,"_ his voice lost its playful tone; _"I could never leave your side."_

Ran snorted. That might have been that sappiest, cheesiest thing Shinichi had ever said. It conjured pictures of the tragic loves of tall tales, in which heroes are slain, promises are broken, and love conquers all. Admitting he loved her didn't give Shinichi free license to turn into a romantic idiot.

"_I'm serious Ran. It's not that I wouldn't leave. I couldn't. I am physically unable to go more than," _his eyes dropped to one corner as he estimated the distance, _"about fifteen meters from you, give or take. I don't know why, but you're stuck with me."_ He said it lightly, but Ran could feel the underlying confusion. This ghost thing was new and alarming, and Shinichi didn't know any more about it than she did. Less even, because he had never listened to the ghost stories. Ghosts in stories always kept to one area.

A blush rose to her cheeks as Ran realized a certain implication. "Why me?" Ghosts always hung around people or places that were important to them, either while they were living or when they died. Why was Shinichi attached to her? Did he really feel that strongly? A teenage crush was not strong enough to fudge the line between life and death. There had to be some other reason Shinichi hadn't moved on.

He shrugged, "_It was either you, or the graveyard. I thought you might be slightly more interesting than a bunch of dead people."_

Ran nearly choked trying to swallow her laughter. After years of ditching her for dead bodies, Shinichi was ditching dead people for her? It was terribly funny, the same way that people falling off bikes is funny. She glanced up to make sure her father was still on the phone. She didn't want to have to explain why she was talking to air. Thankfully he hadn't noticed her fit, but it looked like the conversation was coming to an end.

Shinichi crossed his arms with a hmpf, not getting the joke. Seriously, why was she laughing? Images of all the times he had ever excused himself to chase after a criminal started to poke their way into his head._ Oh, that's why. _

"So what did you want to say?" It was obvious she wanted to ask more questions, but the rush of her words reminded Shinichi that they had company. He needed her answer before the old guy got off the phone.

"_How would you like to be a detective?"_

* * *

AN: Woop, there it is. Its only been months since I last updated this. I've been looking over the story thus far, and I've come tho the conclusion that it needs some help. I need to go back and fix some things, but I'm not going to. I'd like to keep the crapy bits as a record of my progress, even if it might chase readers away befor they get this far.

Anyway, I'm finaly getting to the point. Let the investagations begin!


End file.
